Seau was not the first former NFL player to commit suicide, nor the first to be diagnosed after death with a degenerative brain disease that is the result of brain trauma.

But he was the biggest name.

Mary Ann Easterling’s husband, Ray, played eight years in the NFL and struggled through his final two decades with the very same symptoms Seau exhibited. Ray Easterling committed suicide 13 days before Seau.

Asked Tuesday what has changed in the wake of Seau killing himself, Easterling said, “The awareness has certainly been out there.”

She spoke also to something that makes all this talk about concussions so much bigger than the fate of the NFL.

“I’ve seen a lot more parents taking responsibility,” Easterling said. “I think that’s where the impact is going to be – that this has long-term effects on health and they need to take care of themselves.”

The Easterlings were among the original plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit filed in 2011. Junior Seau’s family and some 4,000-plus other former NFL players and their families are now party to that suit, which alleges the NFL suppressed information about the long-term dangers of concussions.

The NFL, for its part, has for a few years been taking measures to limit head collisions. And its rules changes in the past year appear set to diminish those contacts even more drastically.

Those measures may have been taken were Seau still alive.

But his death was impossible to ignore and has, without question, spurred discussion.

“The guys who committed suicide, some of whom we found out had CTE, there wasn’t anything done,” said Gary Plummer, Seau’s former teammate and longtime friend. “Junior being such a high-profile guy, it truly pushed the NFL into action, and that should be his legacy. And he should be proud of that fact, because he was too good of a human being to die in vain.”